Well, summer break is gone. Things have been so quite around here. It's not that I've stopped trying to pinch pennies... I think my time and my patience have both been lost somewhere in a family reunion or summer vacation.
I thought it might be fitting to post a little sumpin'-sumpin' bout school lunches.
I like to think of myself as an advocate for healthy eating. Unfortunately, healthy and cheap are not often possible. I seem to find myself choosing between one or the other.
I wanted some ideas and feedback on affordable (and somewhat healthy) options to put in my kids' lunches. My kids LOVE those 'lunchable' packs, but I've never had the stomach to pay that much for a tiny lunch. Has anyone ever made their own 'lunchable' pack? I know there are amazing Mom's who pack their kids awesome lunches (I know, I've seen them when I visit the lunchroom)
Here is a list of what I pack, I just chose one from each category:
Drinks- Capri Sun, juice box, $0.35 milk
Snacks-(items bought in bulk or on sale and divided into small ziplocs)- Triscuts, Cheez-it's, almonds, raisins, string cheese
Fruit/Veggie- carrots, apples, grapes, pears
Protein- hard boiled egg (peeled and sprinkled with salt in a small ziploc), meat and cheese sandwich, ham/cheese/olive kabob (chunks of each stuck on a toothpick)
It seems that it takes up such a chunk of our grocery budget, but I'm stuck in a rut. Out of ideas for saving money and lacking creativity.
So what kind of things do you pack? Has anyone found a way to work the weekly ad's into packing lunches?
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Bread in 60 minutes!
Seriously... the best! 10 minutes prep, 25 minutes to rise, 25 minutes to cook... DONE! Pizza in 30 minutes... cinnamon rolls in 45 minutes. I feel so domesticated!
5 c. bread flour
1/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp rounded new PREMIUM SAF-Instant yeast
2 tsp EASY SQUEEZY SOY LECITHIN (don't measure, just easy squeezy 2 quarter size squirts)
2 c. hot/warm water
*add 1 3/4 c. and then add 1/4 slowly if necessary*
1. mix dry ingredients
2. make 2 dimples in dry ingredients. Fill with lecithin. Add water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. (should be sticky and pull itself off bowl)
3. Mix/knead in mixer (with hook attachment) on medium setting for 5 minutes. (or 10 minutes by hand) Do NOT use more flour after kneading... none on the counter.)
4. Spray counter and hands with cooking spray
At this point you can make bread... and everything from pizza to dessert braids. Just visit THIS website for recipes, ingredients and further instructions.
You can purchase the yeast and lecithin together for only $15. (It makes 44 loaves of bread!) She also left some at my house if you want to stop by and get one from me.
www.fasteasybread.com
5 c. bread flour
1/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp rounded new PREMIUM SAF-Instant yeast
2 tsp EASY SQUEEZY SOY LECITHIN (don't measure, just easy squeezy 2 quarter size squirts)
2 c. hot/warm water
*add 1 3/4 c. and then add 1/4 slowly if necessary*
1. mix dry ingredients
2. make 2 dimples in dry ingredients. Fill with lecithin. Add water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. (should be sticky and pull itself off bowl)
3. Mix/knead in mixer (with hook attachment) on medium setting for 5 minutes. (or 10 minutes by hand) Do NOT use more flour after kneading... none on the counter.)
4. Spray counter and hands with cooking spray
At this point you can make bread... and everything from pizza to dessert braids. Just visit THIS website for recipes, ingredients and further instructions.
You can purchase the yeast and lecithin together for only $15. (It makes 44 loaves of bread!) She also left some at my house if you want to stop by and get one from me.
www.fasteasybread.com
Followers
Please contribute!
“The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas.”
- Linus Pauling
Please email any info you want posted to... gatheringgrub@hotmail.com
It may take a day or two...but it will get posted!
- Linus Pauling
Please email any info you want posted to... gatheringgrub@hotmail.com
It may take a day or two...but it will get posted!
5 comments:
my kids love to take cracker, cheese, and peperoni. kind of like a little lunchable. then I alway's through in a fruit or veggie. but with all my kids in school this year we are going to try hot lunch for a while and see how it goes.
what do you do for the items that need to stay cool, like the cheese and if they have a meat and cheese sandwich and you put mayo on it what then. I have tried those freezer things but what have you tried?
The kids eat hot lunch or if I make lunch it is usually pb&j. Borning but when in a hurry :-)
I bought my son a two-compartment lunch pack last year at Tareget. I pack a lunchmeat and cheese sandwich (or pb&j when we are out of lunchmeat), put the sandwich in a plastic zip-top baggie, and put it in the bottom compartment with a napkin and Igloo miniature ice pack ($0.99 at Target by the lunch packs). I also throw in a mini bag of chips (bought the variety pack at Costco, and it has lasted 3 weeks so far with both my husband and my son's lunches, and used as snacks a few times too).
I bought a thermos at target (fits in the top compartment, and stays cold all day). It was $15, but I fill it with water every day and don't have to mess with juice boxes. I also put a mini ice pack in with it.
My son also has to take 2 snacks to school (requested by the teacher) for a snack "recess" (he is in school a full 7 hours, with lunch at 11). Usually a cheese n cracker pack and a fruit leather (both purchased at Costco in bulk). 3 weeks into the school year. still have some of both.
Not sure if this helps. I pack a lunch because he goes to a K-8 (with full day kindergarten) and gets only 15 minutes to eat before getting shuffled out to get the next grade into the cafeteria. He wouldn't have time to eat a hot lunch after standing in line to buy it!
I don't know if this helps. But, thought I would share what we do here in the desert!
I freeze the Capri Sun's, by the time lunch rolls around they have thawed out and everything is still nice and cold.
I am not very creative in the lunch department. My poor kids pretty much get the same thing day after day. They do enjoy when I do the honey butter sandwiches though. They also like the roll up sandwiches. They know mom must be in a creative mood if I am making them a roll up.
Thanks guys!
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